Tag Archives: tent

We went to the ReserveAmerica site and just searched for open tent-friendly sites in the San Jacinto wilderness. There were a few in Stone Creek, and a few in Idyllwild. It took us a while to understand what was available. The ReserveAmerica site says this:

“Stone Creek and Idyllwild are separate campgrounds. Idyllwild is within walking distance of the town of Idyllwild, and Stone Creek is 6 miles north on Hwy 243.”

But their map looks like this:

If they’re separate, why are they on the same map? And there are a few sites that look like they’re right on the border…which campground are those in?

I don’t know why they’re on the same map, but I *can* tell you that the sites on the border are all sites in Stone Creek Campground. Here’s a better map:

We never did find the Idyllwild campground, so I can’t talk about that. But Stone Creek was pretty nice! We picked spot #23:

We were lucky with our spot. It’s right on the edge, so slightly more private than a lot of the interior sites. Also, no one was at spot 22, which would have made things MUCH less private. Some of the sites (#17, #19) are nestled in manzanita shrubs, which lends both privacy and shade.

There’s also a bathroom that’s not on the map between sites 16, 46, 14 and 44. Walking to it felt like you were walking through other people’s campsites, so if you can use a different bathroom that would be better.

This whole area felt very ADA accessible! The parking near the nature trail was poured concrete, and the trail itself felt doable in a wheelchair.

We wanted to hike, so the next morning after we woke up we headed off to Devil’s Slide! We knew you needed a permit, and luckily* the campground host had some that she gave to us. Driving to the trailhead was surprisingly tricky. This was the map we wished we’d had (it was only posted at the trailhead, not at the campground):

Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures from the TOP of Devil’s Slide, because we got kicked off the mountain by a ranger! It turns out that our campground host had given us the incorrect permit.

If you want to do the Devil’s Slide hike, be sure to get the *correct* permit. The safest route is to get the permit from the Idyllwild Ranger Station.